36-38

Chapter 36 – Cracking an Egg

 The following days were quite hectic, Mr. Moore being determined to turn Victini into a competent battler by his definition. The military style no nonsense training didn't mesh well with her personality type."Give me twenty flamethrowers within ten minutes or you can go to bed without dinner!""Vi!?!?"He didn't deign to spare me from his extreme ministrations either. According to him, great trainers were always mobile. This meant that he had me running laps inside the volcano while his Pokémon were taking potshots at me. His Magcargo was acting all gingerly about it and luckily for me the Lava Pokémon was restricting itself by only using rock throw and ember attacks. The first few days I went to bed bruised and mildly singed leaving me with torn up and burnt clothes."Egon! If you don't finish those three miles, it's no dinner for you either!"'Like hell you are convincing my grandma into letting me go to bed starved. If worse comes to worst, I'll just sneak out to get dinner at the hot springs' inn.'"Me too?"'Of course, what kind of trainer would I be if I didn't sneak in some extra for you. Starving ourselves won't make us grow stronger.'The rest of my team had it much easier. Each one gained a friendly mentor which they couldn't stop raving over. Especially Rena's mentor, Mr. Moore's own Ninetales took a shine to my little fox. When she was not teaching Rena new tricks the two could often be spotted together grooming one another.Numsy also had a same species mentor this time an older gym Camerupt not on Moore's personal team, picked for seventh level badge fights and up. Since the Camerupt had nothing else to do except graze and look after the gym's numel this was a nice change of pace for him. I stressed the importance of learning earth power to Numsy. So hopefully he has been focusing on that instead of grazing and lazing about with the rest of the gym's herd Pokémon.Only Orin and Glove didn't receive a mentor, both of them, especially the little Litwick had trouble finding a proper mentor. While Glove just exercised once in a while with most of his attention being focused on the egg. I figured it would be pretty awkward for him to start receiving advice from Pokémon close in strength to himself. Orin for the most part just watched on from the sidelines as we got abused into being capable battlers. Or if he wasn't then Flannery probably took him along to have fun elsewhere.Tranquill, being absolutely bored out of her mind, has been picking fights with the weaker gym Pokémon. In the wild that wouldn't be an issue, but gyms had to make sure that they have Pokémon of appropriate level strength for every challenge. If a first badge level Pokémon got too strong, they'd be moved up and used against 2nd badge level fights and so on. If a gym's Pokémon got too strong too quickly, they could face a shortage of Pokémon to use for challengers. Luckily there was a limit to the number of battles Tranquill could start before growing tired.The training was rough and often times Mr. Moore and I had disagreements on how to engage with Victini. The only way to convince him to ease up on the training when he was stuck in one of his moods was to have Victini tell on him to Flannery. The red head was quick to berate her grandfather for "bullying" her cute new friend. Whenever Flannery involved herself, he turned back into the overly spoiling, kind-hearted, Pokémon poetry obsessed grandfather.Mr. Moore was old enough to have experienced the interregional war between Kanto and Johto and being that his family originally came from Johto I figured he must have some leftover mental demons and I couldn't help but compare the training we were doing with army drills. Curiosity alone was not enough to have me start asking questions about such a sensitive subject. There was a widely agreed on consensus between old people to never talk about the war. To prevent the youth from holding on to old grudges.Although we didn't agree with his methods, they did produce some results. Since power was never an issue for Victini we skipped past moves that relied too heavily on technique. The focus would be to train her up to be able to use flamethrower, fire punch, psychic, and thunder punch. Mr. Moore didn't have any psychic types of his own but the Magmar on his elite team was skilled at using the move.After each personal session with Magmar the little rabbit Pokémon usually walked away with new insights. Even though Victini had a childlike disposition the smarts inherent to psychic type Pokémon shined through. She quickly learned to use three of the four moves on the first try. The only move the rabbit Pokémon had some difficulty learning was thunder punch, requiring the remainder of our first week to get the basics down. I attributed her difficulty learning the move with the fact that she had never in her life tried to channel typed energy that was neither psychic nor fire type."Ugh… My everything hurts, and spending too much time in that Volcano ruined my traveling boots."It was after another one of our training sessions with Mr. Moore when it happened. Me and the team were walking back home, myself sweaty and with a growing bruise on the side of my head where I got hit by my Magcargo's rock throw. The Pokémon was limiting himself in order to not to hurt me too badly, I knew that, but getting hit still stung. We met glove on the way back home, he was carrying the incubator in his arms looking especially harried. This was a strange occurrence since Glove never went outside the house without being accompanied by me or my grandparents."What's wrong Glove? Did Flannery try to ride on your back again?""Nitan!""Glove says the egg twitched three times one shortly after the other!""Really?! Okay! Glove you head on over to the Pokémon center with the egg. I'll let Grandma and Grandpa know in case they want to watch the hatching. Tini, can you let Flannery know?""On it!"Flannery kept bugging me about my egg, since I declined to disclose the specific species inside of the egg to her. I figured it would be fun for her to find out the traditional way. Our Nurse Joy Mary told me the hatching process could take a whole day, but I hoped my immature friend could stay for long enough to witness that special moment. Seven hours later* "Egooon!!! How much longer is this going to take? I am hungry!""It'll hatch when it is ready and not a moment sooner. Maybe if you calm down the little one in the egg will come out sooner.""Oh my… We have some rice crackers in the back if you'd like some?"The people inside the delivery room at the center consisted of just me, Flannery and nurse Joy. My grandparents visited for a spell but quickly left after making a token appearance. As did Mr. Moore here to drag Flannery back home since it was past her bedtime. Nurse Joy managed to convince him to let Flannery stay here for the birth. It was just an hour past midnight and we spent most of our time waiting by sharing stories. Our local nurse Joy, being very well traveled, had a few juicy escapades to share. During her younger years she used to be a trainer just like us competing in four regional circuits. Her being from the Joy clan meant that she had unrestricted access to almost any region. She wasn't really all that successful never qualifying to enter the championship tournaments but for her it was more about the experience traveling around meeting new Pokémon."Mary, has anyone from the Joy clan ever won a championship tournament?""Yes, my niece twice removed, if I do recall, she won one here in Hoenn. Before taking up a job as a PIA agent in Kanto.""PIA?""The Pokémon inspection agency. They are responsible for making sure gyms and other league associated facilities are being run according to the rules established by the Pokémon association. Making sure they keep up with the latest safety standards and provide the correct level of challenge for each individual challenger. Each year they shut down a few minor gyms for poor practices."Minor gyms were quite common in every region. Technically speaking if a village, town, or city doesn't have an official gym a resident was free to open one. Naturally the badges awarded by such a gym weren't worth much. It was tough for any trainer to run a gym without significant backing from their community. The successful ones out of these small timers kept the big gyms on their toes, always eying their position and ready to take over when their leaders proved themselves inadequate.Our time spent watching the egg has been quite draining to me and Flannery, our young bodies not yet used to staying up past our usual bedtimes. Mary offered to let us go sleep in one of the center's bunkbeds while she would keep watch, but I felt it was important to observe the entire process.The rest of my team were out of their poké balls, except for Victini who was counting on me to inform her when the hatching commenced. It's not like we didn't trust nurse Joy to keep Victini's existence a secret but there were multiple camera's set up inside the room and we planned to share those recordings with a number of people.To pass the time Flannery started goofing around with her team and my Pokémon. Playing hide and seek, tic tac toe and tag. Naturally running through the Pokémon center's hallways was completely against the rules but Mary allowed it this one time since it was past visiting hours and the girl clearly needed to let off some steam.Then it happened. The egg had been wiggling for a while now, but it seems like its occupant decided to finally take escaping seriously. Marked by the fact that for the first time we heard a loud thwump emanate from inside the incubator."Mary, it's happening!""Dar! Dar!"The family's nurse Joy with practiced precision unscrewed the incubator's top open before carefully picking up the egg and placing it on a collection of old wet towels. She let me know beforehand that fire types tended to come out dry with the eggshell pieces bursting out in every direction like a small grenade explosion. This tended to scorch up the surroundings real bad hence the need for wet towels.The first visible crack was made at the top of the egg splintering into multiple lines which glowed red hot. As if the occupant inside sought to blast their way out. And eventually it did pelting me and Flannery with the remains of its egg shell. Luckily it being a newborn Pokémon the power behind the blast wasn't at all dangerous."Veeeees!"We could finally see the baby Pokémon's true appearance. Larvesta looked similar to other first stage bug type Pokémon sporting a segmented body with the upper half of its body enveloped by a fuzzy white mane. Having three pairs of legs with one pair front facing so it could hold grab things its most distinctive feature however was the five whorled horns distributed equally alongside its head.'Oh, right! My Unovan Pokédex will probably have this one on record let's see…'Larvesta, the Torch Pokémon. When battling opponents, it sprays fire from its five horns. The max temperature of the flames can reach nearly 5,500 degrees Fahrenheit. In ancient times, Larvesta was worshiped as the emissary of the sun. However, it was also viewed as a burden since it often caused forest fires."Aww it's so cute! And look at those horns!"Flannery as always was quick to comment on the perceived cuteness of a Pokémon. Meanwhile Mary was eager to give baby Pokémon a physical exam slowly inching closer to the newly hatched Larvesta."Vesta!"It seemed Larvesta was having none of it. Dangerously flaring up its horn towards the nurse's incoming hand."Wait! Larvesta will only trust a human or Pokémon who has been designated as its caretaker."It has been around two months since I received that pheromone mark. I've showered and bathed multiple times since then so I didn't know for sure if this would work. However, it had a better shot of working than whatever Mary was planning to do.Un-sleeving my right arm I presented my bare skin to Larvesta. The mark had almost completely faded, but if you looked closely you could still barely see a faint white outline. I was hoping Larvesta wouldn't burn my arm off in an attempt at self-defense. Thankfully the little guy or girl seemed to be distracted by something in the air. The torch Pokémon crawled over to my offered appendage and started rubbing its fuzzy white head across the length of my arm."Your mother chose me to take care of you. Do you want to come with me, Larvesta?""Veeees!"Somehow, I knew that I had gotten a positive reaction from the newborn Pokémon. Evidenced by the fact that Larvesta was now crawling up my arm on its direction towards my shoulder eventually making its way up there. The feel of Larvesta up there wasn't altogether unpleasant. Yes, the horns were poking me but they weren't sharp in any way."Larvesta, would you mind letting the nice Nurse Joy have a look at you?""Veees…""If you are really brave, I am sure she'll give you a tasty treat afterwards.""Can I have a tasty treat too?"'Yes, in a bit. First let me work my child rearing skills on Larvesta.'With some further cooing and head rubs I finally managed to convince Larvesta to let Mary have a look at her. The nurse Joy took Larvesta off my shoulders and placed the torch Pokémon on a nearby weight scale."This is the first time I have done this with a Larvesta so please bear with me. We don't have a medium for what is considered a healthy amount of weight or anything really. So, the only thing I can do is to take all Larvesta's measurements and document them for any future references."Mary proceeded to test Larvesta pupillary light reflex as well as the reflex-arc on each of her six limbs. Before turning Larvesta over and examining the other parts of the Pokémon's body."Egon, I am pleased to inform you that this Larvesta is a healthy baby girl."'Ughh... now Dianne is surely going to hound me to play matchmaker in the future.'"Larvesta for being such a brave Pokémon you can have your pick out of any of these Lollipops."Mary offered several choices from candied fruit peels to sliced berries. Eventually Larvesta settled on a honey flavored lollipop. Mary seemed quite pleased with the bug Pokémon's choice for some reason."All bug type Pokémon that end up visiting our center for treatment, just love my special combee honey lollipop. it's a bug type favorite.""Mary, I didn't know you made Pokémon confections in your spare time.""Fufufu, visiting trainers don't stay in Lavaridge for long so me and Chansey end up with a lot of free time.""Grrr…!"'Calm down! I'll get you one of those lollipops later.'While Larvesta was enjoying her candied treat, someone else in the room couldn't contain their eagerness any longer."Dar Dar!""Yes, go ahead Glove this is the perfect time for introductions."My Darmanitan stood ramrod straight which wasn't easy since his species tended to lean forward using their arms for additional support. Just like that Glove slowly walked up to Larvesta who was still situated on top of the medical exam table."Dar Dar…""Vesss?""Nitan!"'What did he say?'"Glove is swearing his loyalty to the princess."'Wait why? I thought we were going to be cool uncles?!'"Lar!""She appointed him as her personal knight."'This is getting out of hand real fast! I am going to try something.'"Glove, how are you going to be an uncle and a knight at the same time? Knights can't play horsey or do whoopey cushion pranks!""Dar…""It was all just in my head? You are a retainer first and foremost?"To his credit Glove did seem slightly ashamed of going back on his words. To get my mind off this grave betrayal I gave Flannery and the rest of my team the go ahead to make their own introductions. Fervently wishing that none of my other Pokémon felt the need to swear allegiance to Larvesta.First up was Numsy, the eruption Pokémon seemed the most disinterested of those who were present in the room. Which was still quite fond as a numel he spent a good number of nights reclined against the egg looking after its well-being."Rupt.""Ves?""Came?!"Larvesta hopped off the table and landed squarely on top of Numsy's neck.'Wait what just happened?'"Larvesta deemed Numsy to be a part of her royal procession… as her steed."'Please Acreus! Don't let this happen to me. I can't handle eccentricities of this magnitude.'Numsy eventually recovered from the initial shock of being categorized as Larvesta's beast of labor. Not bothered by Larvesta's implications he carried her around the room to the other Pokémon of my team who hadn't had the time to introduce themselves yet. Each time Larvesta giving them some sort of made-up court position. Rena became her lady-in-waiting while Orin received the honor of becoming her antiquarian. Tranquill oddly enough also was deemed worthy enough to receive a position in this faux court. Victini translated her job title as Keeper of the Swanna. When it was time for Flannery to make her introductions, the smooth procession seemed to run into a few snags."Heya Larvesta my name is Flannery. Let's be friends!"What sounded to me like a completely normal start to a healthy relationship seemed to somehow offend Larvesta. Evident by the small plumes of fire shooting out of her horns."Vess! Vess!"'Wait that seemed completely normal to me what happened?'"Larvesta says only family can deign to speak to her so casually."Before things got out of hand, I intervened by pulling off Larvesta from Numsy's back and giving her a stern talking to."Flannery is a family friend be nice to her, okay? She might come off as a bit too forward but give her some slack for my sake.""Vess…""Now as a token of reconciliation you should shake hands together.""Vess!""She says that…"'It's okay, even I can figure that last one out.''Taking care of this one is going to be a chore, I just know it.' Later that night* Mary didn't want us to go out after dark, so she let us stay in the center dorm rooms. Numsy couldn't stay out and had to be put back in his ball, but the rest of the team kept on without sleeping for a spell longer to get to know Larvesta a bit better. She seemed tolerant enough of those who she deemed to be her servants. Seeing as I was to look out for her, and she hadn't decided to give me a court title yet I seemed to be in the clear.Larvesta went into great detail on what was to be expected of each member. As her knight and personal champion Glove was permitted to take her place in any trial-by-combat duels and was to put a stop to any assassination attempts. Rena was the only one permitted to be candid to her, her duties as a lady-in-waiting was to be Larvesta's playmate and keep her up to date with any courtly gossip. Orin's job entailed the protection and maintenance of any artifacts or valuable items our party manages to acquire. After which she promptly demanded to inspect our "coffers". Orin being completely out of his depth looked at me hoping I'd take over for him."It's alright Orin you don't have to play along with her antics if you don't want to.""Lit…""Fineeee…"I grabbed my trusty backpack and turned it over letting all its contents spill out on my bed covers. Besides the obvious clothes, camping supplies and tupperware filled with Pokémon food and berries there were a number of items that didn't fall into the before mentioned categories. To make it as simple as possible for Orin I lined up any of the unusual items.One Mega stone, Safety Goggles, Rena's ruby tiara, calling card from Geof the secret CEO/ janitor, one fire stone, Pokédex, five soda cans, Xtransceiver and the disassembled remains of Dianne's egg incubator which I planned to return to her at some point. It wasn't much but hopefully Orin will be let off with just this.Larvesta paced around the bed painstakingly inspecting the goods. She seemed happy enough with the firestone and unidentified mega stone. Dismissing all the supplies and clothes, when her eyes landed on the tiara her eyes started shining."Ves! Ves!"Before Larvesta had the chance to go grab the tiara Rena swiftly body blocked her claiming the tiara to be her personal property."Pix Pix!"'Oh boy this is not going to end well if I don't do something. Gotta distract Larvesta quickly.'"Hey, Larvesta, we haven't gotten to naming you yet. Your mother has a beautiful personal name. How about I come up with one for you?""Lar?""Your mother's name is Sunny, so I was thinking something sun related.""Ves Ves!""Excellent, hmm how about Halo? The way your horns crown your forehead looks similar to old petroglyphic art depicting the sun."It seemed like I've gotten better at naming since Larvesta seemed blown away by my name suggestion. Eagerly bobbing her head in agreement and also completely forgetting the ruby tiara which Rena was at this moment sneakily trying to hide behind her six tails."Perfect! It's nice having you on the team Halo. Hey, would you mind me capturing you in this net ball? I don't want anyone else to try and run off with you."My proposal to capture her passed scrutiny and she gave me a single nod with her head. Not wasting any time and with most of my backpack emptied I grabbed the singular empty net ball which was not latched to my belt but acted as the hood ornament of her incubator. Sitting in preparation for today's events and sparing me the effort of buying a regular one from the local pokémart. Gingerly I gently bopped Halo on her head, the capturing device opening up and sucking the bug type Pokémon inside. The ball wiggled only once before producing that familiar clicking noise to confirm a successful capture."I caught a Larvesta!""Pix Pix!""Dar!""Lit!""Egon shut up!""Whoops, Let's keep quiet you guys. Flannery needs her beauty sleep."Since Flannery was a bit upset after being shunned by Larvesta like that. I made a deal with Victini to keep her company for the night. My fellow redhead was sleeping in the next room over and was not in the mood to entertain my antics."Let's go to bed as well. Tomorrow will surely be a hectic day." The following morning* Since we stayed awake for a good portion of the night, we only got out of bed at around ten in the morning. Naturally this being Larvesta's first day out of the egg, she looked at every surrounding building and tree with a sense of wonder and delight."The building you were born in is called a Pokémon center. It's where injured and sick Pokémon go to be healed.""Ves.""You can always identify a Pokémon center by the distinct red coloring of their rooftops. So, if you ever get lost in a big city that's the place, I'll look for you. There's also the(a?) Pokémart. These buildings have blue tiled roofs. It's where trainers like me buy supplies, like poké balls or medicine.Halo being very eager to learn all there is to know about all the buildings and Pokémon walking around Lavaridge. It made teaching her a pleasant experience not mentioning the fact that her fuzzy mane felt nice brushing up against my neck. It is good that her birthplace is my hometown, if she was born in a big city all the noise and crowded streets might have been a bit overwhelming for her. I was late for my daily training session with Mr. Moore, but I was sure he'd understand the importance of showing Halo around town."Ves?""That's the gym, the place where me and a few other fire type specialized trainers work at. We offer challenges to passing trainers at differing skill levels and if they do well, they earn a badge. Badges are what trainers like me aim to collect in order to earn a spot at this big yearly tournament.""Can we go now?"Victini had to suffer through being smothered like a stuffed toy for the whole night. Cheering up Flannery took a whole lot of effort on Victini's part. The girl went back home a bit earlier than I did in order to have breakfast with her grandfather on time.Arriving through the front entrance, Halo got a whole lot of attention from one of the three people that worked at the gym full time."Why look at that, a Larvesta! I didn't think I'd ever get the chance to see one in person. You are one lucky trainer Egon. So, that is the Pokémon that was inside the egg you were logging around the whole time?""Yes, it's my first time raising a newborn Pokémon so any advice you could give me would sure be helpful Keegan.""Well, I've raised a lot of the gym's newborn Pokémon. We don't exactly plan for it but when love happens someone's got to take care of the Numel and Ponyta once they've been weaned off. They make for excellent challenges against fledgling trainers."The gym trainers did have to take care of some extra unplanned Pokémon from time to time. Slugma, Ponyta and Numel mostly. If the newly hatched Pokémon didn't have any interest in battling, they would be relocated to a place more suited to them. Those ponyta and numel usually ended up at a ranch or reserve. The ponyta especially were a big hit with riding schools since all those girls tended to want their own personal ponyta to ride on. However, there was a strict rule that parents and their calves/foals were not to be separated unless they both gave the gym their consent. Magcargo typically didn't have much parental instinct. For them it was enough just knowing the egg would be cared for by a diligent trainer."The people working here are all trainers with way more experience than me Halo. So be sure to pay attention when they give out suggestions.""Vess…!""Hoho! Got yourself a spitfire I see. That sort of personality type is well suited for a fire type. Well, I'll leave you two to it. There is a Magby just waiting to be prepped for today's challengers. If you are looking for Mr. Moore, he's at the usual place inside the caldera.""I am sure Mr. Moore would love to meet the only Larvesta ever to be found outside the Unova region."

Chapter 37 – Birthday Girl "See Halo? These are all fire type Pokémon just like you.""Vess."As we were walking through the gym's hallway on our way to the caldera, I couldn't help showing off some of the interesting sights most challengers don't get to see when visiting the gym. The gym had everything. From personal use hot springs gym trainers sometimes used to dehumidifying heat pipes. Some of the fire type Pokémon living here are more comfortable living in dry heat as were their trainers.The more even-tempered Pokémon had free reign to use the gym's facilities as they saw fit. It wasn't all that strange bumping into a magmar just done bathing inside one of the gym's more hazardous spa treatment options only available to volcano dwelling Pokémon. Naturally they had to make sure after they were done bathing in magma that there weren't any loose globs of it sticking to their bodies. Dripping spots were still visible from all the times some of the fire type Pokémon forgot to clean themselves off properly."Ah! Here we are, this is the deepest part of the gym connecting to one of the smaller volcanoes adjacent to Mt. Chimney. We are kind of late but seeing as today is your birthday I bet Mr. Moore won't mind."At this distance we could already see Mr. Moore waiting for us. He didn't look all that happy, but a quick explanation should straighten things out."Mr. Moore! My egg hatched! This little one decided to join up with me and the team. Isn't she the cutest?""Ves!""A Larvesta… and a female one at that. Victini was one thing but now you also have a Pokémon widely recognized as one of the strongest fire types around? Did you manage to make a wish upon a passing Jirachi by chance?""Well, no… I just have a sixth sense for finding interesting Pokémon I guess.""Never mind then. I don't expect you to tell me all your secrets. In any case since today is such a special day I guess I can let you off for being late. Leave your Larvesta at the stands. It will be good for the little lady to observe our training. That way she will be mentally prepared to face the same rigors as Victini does."With that I released Victini from her ball. The little rabbit seemed to have gotten a taste for battle lately since she loved having sparring matches with Mr. Moore's Magmar. The kindly spitfire Pokémon was exhausted after every bout the two had while Victini was still full of energy."Vi Vi!" "Bring it!""Ves!?""Oh, hmm indeed. Halo you haven't gotten the chance to meet Victini yet. She is also one of my partner Pokémon. You just haven't met her yet since Victini was busy cheering up Flannery last night. Go say hello."I put Halo down on the ground, the heat from the arena didn't faze her at all as she crawled up to Victini to make her acquaintance."Vi Vi?""Ves!""Vi!"My rabbit Pokémon moved in enthusiastically giving the larva Pokémon a hug."Ves?!""Victini here is over a hundred years old and she's really smart. If you ever need someone to give you a byplay of what's happening at any given moment you can rely on her.""Ves!""Vi?!" "You want me to be your court scholar?!""Ves!""Vi…" "I don't know, Egon knows a lot more about this world than I do…"This was the moment I decided to butt into their conversation."That's a great idea! You can teach Halo all sorts of stuff. Also, Tini you can just take a peek through my mind whenever you need to look up some piece of trivia or the like."I was starting to feel more positive towards all these "court positions" Halo was giving to my team. She must have picked up a thing or two from those claydolls and her mother even while in the egg. We just had to make sure she regarded her "court" more akin to a family as opposed to Pokémon or people subordinate to her."Make sure to teach Halo all the important stuff; Like how to use her adorableness to score discount berries at vendors or the ability to read a map.""Vi Vi!" "I don't know how to do any of those!""Well, you better start learning. The haggling for berries part you can practice on my grandma during closing hours."With that I released the rest of my team to start practicing with their respective mentors. Tranquill seemed eager to leave the caldera arena. Not being a fire type meant she wasn't as immune to the heat as the rest of my team. I didn't know where she flew off to during our training hours but I bet she had a lot of exploring to do being in a unfamiliar region and all of that."Make sure not to pick fights with any tailow! Those little guys don't give up on a battle until they are grievously injured even against superior opponents.""Quill!""Glove, your job is to look after Halo for the day. If at any point she grows bored of watching our drills she is free to wander the gym. Go help her make some new friends and bring Orin along if you can.""Dar!""The rest of you know where to find your mentors. So, let's make this a fruitful day!" A few hours later* "Ugh… my everything hurts.""Vi Vi!" "You didn't get hit this time!""That felt more like Magcargo was just having a slow day than me being faster."Mr. Moore now finished with tortu… ehem I mean training me. Came down from the stands himself. He liked drinking iced tea while watching me make a fool of myself. Mr. Moore wasn't the type of drill sergeant who intermingled with his cadets all that much during training time."You have finished this day's training, come with me to my office. I have a private matter to discuss with you.""Sure, but ehm… Could you give me a moment to round up all my team members? It'll take a while to find them all."Halo scampered off at some point having grown bored from watching me run around. I didn't mind as much since today was her birthday after all. Orin and Glove went with her so there wasn't a need for me to worry about her safety."This won't take long.""Yes Mr. Moore sir."Deciding not to argue with the man I followed him into his personal quarters. The moment my feet crossed the threshold into his office his stern attitude was dropped. Replaced with something more akin to the attitude of a chiding senior at work after you have made a mistake."Egon, how long have you been working with us at the gym?""Around three years give or take a few months.""After all that time would you consider Flannery and the rest of the gym's staff as a second family?"'This type of talk usually ends up with the person revealing he's some kind of criminal mastermind. I am sorry Tini from now on Boss Moore will lead us through the dark underbelly of society.'"Viii!" "Nooo!""What is happening with Victini? Will she be a problem Egon?""Not at all Boss Moore! We will follow your orders faithfully!""Vi Vi!" "There's no problems boss!""Boss? Well yes, I guess you could call me that since you are on the gym's payroll after all. Regardless, there is a matter that needs to be dealt with.""Dealt with? Has someone been missing out on their payments boss Moore? No problem! You can send us to scare 'em straight. We can be pretty menacing when we need to be.""Vi!" "Rawr!""Stop acting the fool, Egon! This isn't some two-bit mafia tv show. This is about the implications of you being that Larvesta's trainer.""What implications? I know her species is pretty rare, but I know of at least two other trainers who have one.""For one this might land the gym in trouble if Larvesta ever decides to mate and rear offspring. Egon… having Unovan nationality protects you personally but if their league association ever started to suspect my gym is aiming to start up a breeding program the Hoenn league association and myself would have a diplomatic issue on our hands.""It's fine she is a couple of years away from maturing. By the time it happens we'll have figured something out. One of their higher ups was really excited to help me hatch Halo's egg. Which reminds me… I still have to send her the video recording.""There is another reason why I called you to my office… If your Larvesta ever does decide to have progeny of her own, could you let my Flannery have a chance at obtaining one of those eggs?"'This old man…! First, he warns me that I might make the gym look bad by having Halo with me and now he wants a Larvesta egg for his daughter.'"My head hurts…""The first time I watched one of Champion Alder's matches, I was enchanted by the beauty and strength of his partner Pokémon Volcarona. Since then, I've always wanted the opportunity to train one of their line for my own team. Age caught up to me and now I am no longer in any position to do so. I want to give my granddaughter that same chance which I missed out on.""Mr. Moore… I am not in any position to decide who will or will not receive any hypothetical eggs. I firmly believe Halo should decide such things. If Flannery manages to charm her in the future… Well, she has my blessing to give it a try.""That is all I can realistically ask for. Now then you are free to spend the rest of your day however you wish.""Great! There is someone in Lavaridge who I haven't seen in a long while and since I am finally presentable, I'll be sure to pay them a visit."With that said we left to go gather up the rest of my team."Tini, do you know where the others are?""I think so...? Glove is up in Flannery's room so the other two should be there as well. Our remaining members are at their usual spots.""Ugh… you know my aversion to barging into a growing girl's room. How about you pick up those three and I'll go get Numsy and Rena?""Sure thing!"With that Victini seemingly flickered out of existence completely disappearing without a trace. Ever since she mastered the use of teleportation Victini started using the move as an easy shortcut for even the smallest of distances. At first, I was thrilled that she put so much effort into mastering the move I picked out for her, but now I couldn't help but feel that she started to neglect the development of her bodily attributes.'Well, it's not like she ever walks to places like a regular Pokémon. Levitation also can't be that good for muscle development.'"Hey!!"'What? It's true.'As I was engaging in a mental battle of wits with Victini I got closer to the target of my first round up. My Vulpix tended to keep hanging out with Mr. Moore's Ninetales even after finishing their training session. Ninetales being the personal Pokémon of the gym leader could spend as much of Mr. Moore's money as she liked which meant the two of them could often be found getting spoiled by a call in Pokémon groomer and her skittish assistant. This caused me to worry that Rena would slightly resent me for pulling her out of the lap of luxury after she and I went back to competing in the circuit again."Vuuul!""Hello there Egon, we were just about to finish up as usual. How have you been?"The professional Pokémon groomer who just greeted me was quite the charmer. I figured being part of the grooming business required a certain amount of social grace to keep making your customers call you back. The number of times she has been called in to spoil Mr. Moore's Ninetales alone must have set the gym back a pretty penny.Rena was attended to by her assistant in training. The assistant being only slightly older than myself was running after my overly excitable little fox Pokémon. The girl had that type of face where you felt the urge to bully her just to gauge her reactions. My Pokémon was currently in the midst of hazing the newcomer just like a high school diva would. Naturally I had to tell her off for being a menace."Bad Rena! Bad!""Pix?!""If you start acting like a child, I am going to treat you as one. Keep doing what you are doing and it's a boop on the nose for you. Do you see Ninetales here running around giving her groomer a hard time?""Aww it's okay Egon. We asked This darling Vulpix here to simulate what it would be like handling a loath customer. It's important for Pokémon groomers to be able to handle all types of clienteles."Rena was looking at me like she was expecting an apology. Which I did, I was never one to shy away from admitting fault especially since Rena was just being helpful."Sorry Rena, my bad…""Vuuul!""Did you at least have a good time with your senpai?""Pix!""Thank you for looking after her. I know that she can be a handful and we really appreciate the time you spent tutoring her.""Nineeee."There was a good chance Mr. Moore's Ninetales and my vulpix were related to each other in some way. If not siblings than maybe as an aunt and her niece or cousins. The species was known to live up to a thousand years and their fertility wasn't the greatest.Breeding Ninetales in captivity almost never seemed to work out so there were very little of their number living at the gym. Something about bad feng shui or the like. Ninetales only become fertile when they lived in spiritual places like shrines, old ruins, and graveyards. Which was probably for the best due their species' longevity. If Ninetales could produce eggs as easily as other Pokémon we would be swarming with them."Let's go, we still need to pick up Numsy at the numel enclosure. Tini will meet up with the three of us with the rest of the gang at the gate"  We eventually made it out of the gym. We caught Numsy as he was busy trying to impress the smaller Numel with a few of his learned moves. His mentor managed to doze off while looking after him which didn't inspire much confidence in me that he learned anything new while out of my care. I wasn't one to nag him about the details of his training, so I just recalled him inside his poké ball and left to meet back up with the others."Egoooon!"Flannery accompanied by my Pokémon met up with me just as I was idling around the entrance. Halo, not being as mobile as some of my other Pokémon, was hitching a ride on Glove's back while Orin seemed content riding on Flannery's shoulder."What's up Flanny?""I've decided I'll make Larvesta like me no matter what!""That's great and you'll have plenty of chances to do so while we are traveling together."Somehow Halo ended up in Flannery's room of all places. It was a good thing Glove was there to somehow keep things from escalating while Flannery wisely decided to limit her playful banter to Orin alone. I clapped Glove on the back showing my appreciation for his efforts."You must have worked hard… I know the perfect place to get all that stress out of you.""Dar…?""You see, my old master works at a nearby Inn's sand baths. He'll give us the VIP treatment.""They offer special deals to trainers traveling with a full team. He'll get all those stress knots right out of your body. Being petrified for thousands of years must have been tough on your back.""Dar.""If I ask him, he'll keep quiet about Victini, So we can all enjoy an afternoon at the spa!""Vi Vi!" "I want to play ping pong!""Yes, they have that too."Just like that we set off to our next destination. I recalled most of my team except for Halo, the birthday girl obviously deserving deferential treatment having to wait for all of us to finish training."Hello, did you enjoy your time in Flannery's room?""Ves Ves…""The girl tried touching her again.""Hmm I feel you, but it's important to give people and Pokémon second chances. Not everyone can make good first impressions. Flannery just wants to be your friend. How about you give her a temporary court position and see how things work out. Something simple… How about a food taster or musician? I know for a fact that she has a pretty good singing voice.""Ves! Ves!""Only very special humans get court positions!""Wait… I am not special?"That response got Halo to quiet down by a lot. She wiggled around some in my arms until finally giving me a muffled response."Larr… Vess…""You are my adopted father, it'd be weird…"just hearing that response got my heart to grow bigger by three sizes. I rotated Halo in my arms so she could see my elated expression."Aww! I'll be the best dad ever I promise!"'Thank you, Tini for translating. I'll set aside extra lava cookies for you tonight.'"And a custap berry!"Our conversation finished just as we entered the Wooper Inn. It was a small-time business inherited by this nice young lady after her grandparents passed away. She finished her own circuit run to come and run this place. I didn't have much of a relationship with her but there was another esteemed personage helping her run this inn."Master! I have returned!""You again?! Shoo! Shoo! My Quagsire is not some mystical sage giving up worldly secrets to starry eyed brats like yourself.""I am sorry! It has been a long while since I have met with the master. I have run in some good fortune during my travels, and I'd like to catch up with him!""If you want to waste his time, you'll have to book for a timeslot at the sand baths just like everyone else.""Of course! I wouldn't ever dare dream about taking advantage of my master's kindness! I'd like a booking for myself and the six Pokémon on my team.""It'll be tight but I guess we could fit you in… That'll be a thousand pokédollars. I am assuming you want to take our special offer?""Indeed! Thank you for taking us on! As the trainer who raised such a stellar example of a Quagsire we'll make sure not to disappoint you during our stay!""Quiet down, will you?! You'll disturb the other guests. Just go to the changing room, you know the way." After changing* "Halo you'll be able to learn a lot from my old master. He has much wisdom to share.""Ves…?""Really?""No this isn't some long con to poke fun at the sand bath lady!""Vi…?" "She didn't say that…?""Uhm well anyways let's get in. You'll feel like a completely new Pokémon after resting under the hot sand for a while."I opened up the sliding door leading to the sand baths just like I expected my master was already waiting for us outside."Master Quagsire! your disciple has returned!""Quaaaaag…!"Unlike with some of my newer Pokémon I didn't need any help understanding what Quagsire was saying."We've missed you too! Let me introduce you to some of my new friends. We also ordered the special so there shouldn't be any complaints coming from Loren at the front desk.""Quaag.""Perfect, Come on out everybody!"My team materialized sans Halo who was already out of her ball lounging on my shoulders and Tranquill who volunteered to taste test a new experimental batch of cookies for my grandparents for the day. The first thing Numsy did after recognizing where we were was to give out proper respects to his old master."Rupt!""Quaaaaag."Their difference in stature didn't affect the respect in my first partner's voice. He was still the same old Numsy after evolving. His student teacher relationship with Quagsire being unassailable with deference."Master, we've earned two badges while on our journey. Let me introduce you to some of my new partners. This is Glove, the stalwart protector of our group.""Dar.""Sire.""Due to reasons outside of his control he was petrified thousands of years ago. Naturally this was hell on his ligaments. Could you give him the extra special treatment?""Quaaag!"Quagsire pulled my Darmanitan along motioning for the Pokémon to lie down on a nearby massage table. I was planning to introduce the rest of my team first, but my old master tended to focus on the here and now and wasn't easily distractible once he got going."Daaaaaaarr…""Yep, it seems like they'll be busy for a while. How about me and Numsy help bury the rest of you in the sand? They even have these fun little resting bags for Pokémon in case you don't want to get your fur dirty with sand.""Vi Vi!""Vuuuul!""Ves!""Lit…?""Oh yeah as a ghost type you don't really benefit from all of this. How about the two of us play some games instead? I am pretty sure they have a wide selection to choose from."Numsy helped the others bury themselves in the sand while blocking Victini from view with his body. This was a personal sand bath but at any point the proprietress could walk in and accidentally spot Victini sand bathing. During this time, I decided to teach Orin how to play solitaire with a single deck of cards I found in a cubby. Halfway through our hour the proprietress decided to walk in and check on Quagsire."I am sorry Egon; you know that I love to have you around. It's just that running an Inn is stressful especially during the circuit.""It's alright Miss Ami, running the inn by yourself must be a lot of work."She came close enough to get a good view of all my Pokémon and Quagsire who was still beating the stress out of Glove."I see you have made some new friends while off on your journey; would you care to introduce me?""Well, this is Orin. A Litwick he's also part ghost type, Glove is a Darmanitan I encountered in this dust bowl the Unovans call the desert resort, Halo is my newly hatched Larvesta who was just came out of the egg last night …oh! And she's a bug and fire type.""Really? a bug and fire type. She does look a bit like a wurmple. Which reminds me I still have to order a new batch of silk masks.""The inn's face masks are made out of wurmple silk?""Yes, silk is really the best material for face masks. Some people are allergic to mareep wool or cotton or just have really sensitive skin. The only bad quality of wurmple silk is that the masks tend to fray apart after a year's use since they can't stand long exposures to heated steam from the hot springs."Something went off in my brain giving me an idea."How about you give Halo's silk a try? She's also a fire type so her strings should resist higher temperatures. It would save the Inn some money in the long run.""Would you do that for me really!?""Sure, she's never performed the move before though so it might take a while. Also, I don't know how to knit masks out of silk string.""That's alright I can send the silk she produces to the company I usually buy masks from. I am sure they can handle the manufacturing process."Halo was still sleeping inside her baggy while covered in sand so even though I was eager to try out my idea I was wise enough to let her keep enjoying her birthday before talking about business opportunities with her.We made use of the full two hours and by the end of it Glove was like puddy on the massage table. The accumulation of stress locked up in that stone form for thousands of years got to him more than I initially figured. My old master was really the best masseuse in all of Lavaridge. Miss Ami was content to let us languish for a while and went back to managing the Inn after I assured her that I was going to meet up with her later."Did you guys enjoy the sand baths?""Pix!""Ves!""Vi Vi!" "Yes, but it could have been hotter."'Well, you guys are all fire types after all, the heat might not seem as impressive to you.'"Hey Halo, I was wondering can you use the move string shot?""Ves?""Like shoot out silk strings to slow down and constrict opponents.""Ves!""You can? That's great! So, I was wondering if you could produce a spool of silk for me. This Inn has been having trouble relying on wurmple silk masks and I thought it would be nice to help them out. The silk that you produce should be of a way better quality."In response to my inquiry Halo started blasting in my direction with a sticky white thread that loops around my figure and binds my arms and knees together. I tried breaking free but was unable to do so on the first three tries."Argh! This is amazing Halo! You got it down perfectly on your first try. You'll make for a fearsome battler for sure! Now let's get this stuff off me and onto a stick of some sort.""Laar!"Chapter 38 – Lost and Found The proprietress of the Wooper Inn was excited at the prospects of using Larvesta silk for her face masks. She went ahead and sent the batch we gave her to the silk manufacturing company she usually buys from. Since larvesta silk had a different texture and make up than regular wurmple silk the company let her know that it would take a while until they'd have all the kinks worked out. Not to mention all the product testing they still had to do to make sure the product functioned as intended. If the Larvesta silk ended up being a big deal, we would stand to make a pretty penny. Especially since there weren't any Larvesta living in Hoenn.My final week in Lavaridge came to a close with Mr. Moore giving me the last day off to prepare myself for my first Hoenn gym battle later that day. I wasn't particularly anxious since I've watched Lavaridge gym battles play out for years. Keegan or Eli would be my opponent and since I've studied under them, I knew what was expected of a fourth level gym badge challenger. Mr. Moore may have forbidden me from using Glove during this upcoming battle, but it would make very little difference in the end."Okay you guys for this battle I'll be sending out Orin first to let him get some experience battling serious opponents. After that I'll be relying on Numsy and Rena to clean up the rest of our opponent's team of Pokémon.""Are you up to the task Orin?""Lit!""Now going into this I want you to know that I am not expecting you to perform a miracle. Since we'll be facing off against other fire types, burning our opponents won't be possible. The steam battlefield is set up in a way that your smog attack will be mostly ineffective. Without a status condition your hex won't be at full power. Whatever happens after this you'll be going through some extra training to catch up with the others."'Phoebe should be back in Hoenn. I'll ask her for tips on training ghost types.'We still had a good chunk of the morning and afternoon left before our gym battle and not wanting to tire my Pokémon out before their debut in the Hoenn circuit I decided to help the family business by picking berries on Jagged Pass. The grounds around Mt. Chimney are extremely fertile due to the non stop volcanic activity in the area. My grandparents would usually hire passing trainers to do the picking for them but since I am now qualified to take the job I figured I would do it by myself this time."Okay gang my grandparents shop relies on a steady stream of berries to keep doing business. So, let's head out! Anything that can't fit in our bags is for us to eat.""Vi Vi!" "No more diet!""Today is your cheat day Tini, you get one every month. Still… don't go too overboard, okay? If you feel bloated or full, stop eating.""Vi Vi!" "I always have room for berries!"Jagged pass was hard to traverse if you didn't have a flying type Pokémon or decent hiking equipment. My plan was to rely on Victini to bail me out of sticky situations like if I had to climb over steep edges, or a loose rock gave in under me. The Pokémon living on the mountain's edge were mostly peaceful although the fighting types living there were known to initiate battles against traveling trainers. Luckily almost all fighting type Pokémon wouldn't immediately jump you like some dark types would. Their innate code of ethics demanded they first announce themselves before issuing a formal challenge, fighting types are cultured like that.The trek to the mountain's edge was a short one. From my grandparent's garden door to the jagged pass only takes ten minutes if you keep an even pace. Most of my Pokémon were out with me following along. Halo hitching a ride on top of Numsy while Orin was standing on the top of my head. My Larvesta made it a point to ride on Numsy while both of them were out. She felt it important that her retainers did the jobs she assigned them to."Mt. Chimney, the biggest volcano in the entire region, maybe even the world. A prime location for hikers looking to challenge themselves and us berry scavengers of course. Now keep your eyes open and your noses clear, this is prime berry territory."I wasn't planning to go to the top of Mt. Chimney mostly because the best places for berries to grow are at lower altitudes. My grandparents handed me an old-fashioned paper map depicting a nature trail that we should follow for the best berry picking results."Okay so we should head left past this rock there we should come across our first berry tree.""What kind?""Aspear. Most berries that can be found on this trail aren't that exotic it's great for filling up my quota though. Grandma is an expert at making even cheap berries taste great when incorporated into her lava cookies."Just like the map said we did come across an aspear berry tree. What I didn't expect was the Pokémon trying its hardest to jump high enough for a bite to eat."Spooink!"The bouncing Pokémon was startled by our group's arrival was already making a move towards the nearest bush in an effort to disappear."Wait! We are not here to pick a fight with you Spoink. You need help reaching those berries, right?""Spoink?"Encountering a spoink in the wild was pretty rare. These little piglet Pokémon were quite elusive and rarely found on the routes. To say I was interested in its backstory would not be an exaggeration. Usually, psychic type Pokémon like Spoink would use confusion to dislodge edible berries from the treetops meaning that this one was either very young or sick and injured. My guess was the former since the psychic type didn't appear to be suffering from any visible wounds."You are a hungry little fellow, aren't you? Don't worry we'll share some of the berries with you.""Spoink!"I pulled Halo off of Camerupt's back and placed her in front of Spoink. The bug type obviously confused at my actions turned a questioning gaze at my direction."Halo will you keep Spoink company with Rena while the rest of us pick some of the ripened berries off this tree? It's important for royalty to know how to connect with the common Pokémon.""Vess…"Lately I have been using that line of reasoning to get Halo to do stuff she normally wouldn't be inclined to. Like socializing with other younger Pokémon and washing her bowl clean with ember. Stories of her mother also generally worked to motivate her to pursue healthy practices."Spoink, I want you to know that you can tell us if something is bothering you. We are all good listeners."Hoping that Spoink would open up to Halo I proceeded to direct the rest of my team to pick some of the berries on the tree. Numsy couldn't help much in this regard, but he was the one carrying all the saddlebags where the berries would eventually end up in, so it all evened out in the end. The rest of my team got to work, Tranquill keeping watch from the skies just in case we ticked off any territorial Pokémon with our berry picking ways."Only the mature ones! They should be bright yellow and smell stronger than the unripened aspear berries. The other berries should be left on the tree for future passerby."My best berry picker is Victini since the rest of my team didn't have a way to get high up the tree and inspect the goods themselves. Orin managed to learn confusion through osmosis with the rest of my team and Glove was just tall enough when standing on his hind legs to get to the lower hanging fruits. The little ghost type was having a tough time of it, but she managed to spry one loose after some encouragement. Meanwhile Victini was cleaning house, getting the group nine ripened berries against Glove's two and Orin's one."Great job guys. We can set aside five for our own consumption and the rest of them can go to grandma. Here you go, spoink, you can have one as well.""Spoink!"Spoink was having some trouble getting past the berry's skin as was Halo, so Rena was peeling the berries for them with her claws. Laying out the sliced pieces on a clean piece of rock for all of the little ones to enjoy.The psychic type managed to come out of his shell after some sideways banter with Rena and Halo. As we were eating, Victini listened to their conversation with one ear. Informing me that spoink is waiting for his parents to come pick him up after a teleportation accident. Mt. Chimney was some kind of safe haven for his species in case something went awry or if they were at risk of being discovered by poachers.Which reminded me that their species' circumstances weren't the best. Spoink and grumpig pearls were quite valuable to the criminals in Hoenn society. On the black market Spoink pearls fetch quite a pretty penny. It was also very hard to distinguish between legit clamperl pearls and those stolen from a spoink since the two types of pearls were literally the same.Spoinks aren't born with their pearls, their parents somehow manage to get wild clamperl pearls to give to their progeny. How they do it remains a mystery since clamperl can only be found deep within the ocean's depths and grumping aren't known for being good swimmers. When asked a grumpig will refuse to answer any questions on the topic treating it as its most important secret and they will defend that information to the death.Spoinks without their pearls are unable to use any of their psychic powers and will quickly grow sickly and lethargic if the pearl is not returned in a timely fashion. The clamperl pearl trade is heavily regulated for this reason. When one gets caught with a clamperl pearl without the right documentation they best be prepared for a long stint in prison. It is rumored that grumpig do share the secret with their human trainers when their shared bond becomes strong enough. Naturally there was no way to verify these rumors."A teleportation accident… and you need to stay in this spot? That's a tough one… would you parents be able to find you anywhere on the mountain? If so, you can come with us for a bit. We are on a berry run and will walk by this same tree on the way back.""Spoink!"Quick to give his assent the psychic type hopped behind us as we were walking to the next berry tree on my preplanned route. It was rough for the little Pokémon to keep following us across the uneven terrain, but he managed it. The energy provided by the berries sustaining him as we walked further along the mountain trail.The second tree we came across bore oran berries. It wasn't until we came across the third tree on our route that we encountered another Pokémon."Chop!""A Machop and it seems to have marked this figy berry tree and the surroundings as its training hub."The tree had sustained significant damage as there were multiple knuckle indentures spread across the bark. This of course was a sad sight to see, trees that had their bark significantly damaged would slowly die out. The bark was a vital part of a tree since it protected the vascular tissue underneath from environmental factors."Hey you! Stop that!""Maaaachop!"The Pokémon who was busy punching the figy tree seemed miffed that I interrupted his training exercise, but I wasn't in a mood to humor him."Machop, trees need their bark to hold up against the heat and cold. Also there's a thin layer of phloem under the bark that transports important nutrients up the tree. Pokémon rely on that berry tree for their survival. So please, from now on avoid practicing your punching moves on berry trees.""Chop!""He says that he'll stop if you give him a good fight.""So, you want to do this the hard way. Too bad for you I have an important gym battle coming up. Anyone on my team who is qualified to give you a proper fight needs to save their energy."Normally I wouldn't mind indulging this wild Machop for a bit. He'd make for an excellent opponent against Orin. 'Hmm how do I resolve this issue…'"Machop, how about a punching contest? You can choose any of my Pokémon who are able to perform a punching move and if they leave a bigger mark on this slab or rock. You will stop punching berry trees from then on. Spoink here is a wild Pokémon. He will be our impartial judge.""Spoooink!""Chop!"'Okay it seems like that worked.'Machop took his time deciding which of my Pokémon he felt comfortable challenging until his eyes landed on Victini's small frame."Chop Chop!""Victini? Well, okay I guess…"'Are you confident in your fire punch?'"I am the best! Magmar praised me for having the best punch out of all the Pokémon living at the gym!"Looking at Victini I kind of figured why Machop would choose her as his opponent. Those scrawny arms and small paws didn't inspire much confidence in her ability to punch. What Machop didn't know was that he just picked out one of the strongest members on my team."Spoink Spoink!""Machop will go first."The small superpower Pokémon briefly flexed his muscles before standing in front of his punching target. His dominant arm glowing white before unleashing his attack."Chop!"A large crater the size of a melon was left behind once the dust cleared. Machop, feeling supremely confident, flexed his punching arm aggressively towards Victini."That was rock smash, a move specifically designed to clear out rock debris left behind during tunnel excavations. You must have quite the knowledgeable master having learned that move in the wild Machop.""Maa Chop!"My earnest praise for his skills caught the fighting type off guard. Conflicted by my generous praise Machop quickly offered up another proposal for our contest of strength."Maa…""Machop is offering to let Glove take my place in the competition.""That's okay, Machop, Victini is stronger than she looks. Besides, it wouldn't be fair of us to back out of the agreement."Victini took her place in front of a second slab of rock. Doling out some air punches with her tiny paws to warm up her muscles. She gave me a quick nod to let me show she was ready."Tini use fire punch!""Viiii!"Boooooom!!!*Instead of cratering the rock, Victini's fire punch hit with such force that shards of half molten rock went flying everywhere. I didn't need to look at the target to know the results of our friendly punching competition."Vi Vi!" "I did it! We won!""Spoink!""Maa…."Machop was completely blown away. His expectations for the match obviously leant towards him winning against my one feet tall rabbit. I took this opportunity to pad the musclebrain on the back."Victini is pretty strong right? Looks can be deceiving.""Chop.""Anyways… Machop have you seen any grumpig around? This little one is looking for his parents.""Spoink?""Maaa chop chop!""Spoooink!""He did!""Really you did?! Can you point us in the right direction?"The superpower Pokémon obliged me by pointing at a gathering of bushes whose branches had snapped. This direction clearly led to a recently used Pokémon trail."Thanks a lot Machop! If you ever feel the need for a rematch, me and my family live in Lavaridge town. Let's go guys, we are hot on their trail!""Spoink Spoink!""Vi Vi!""Rupt!""Vuuul!""Ves!""Quill!""Nitan!"My team, just like me, was eager to reunite Spoink with his parents."Rena, you have the best nose out of all of us. Can you track spoink's parents? They should smell similar to our little friend here.""Pix!"With Rena leading the way I was sure we would find the wayward couple. Rena's nose has only gotten better over the years at this point I would put her only one step below dedicated tracker Pokémon used in the ranger corps.As we waded through bushes and the difficult terrain, I made the tough but fair decision to recall most of my team. The only ones staying out were Tranquill who was keeping a look out from the air and Numsy and Rena the former still carrying saddlebags loaded with berries. Rena was quick to pick up the scent of the Pokémon that had waded through these bushes."Pix Pix!""You got it? Lead the way girl."The next part of our chase was why I was always reluctant to leave established routes and beaten paths. I was wading through the underbrush without shin protection seeing as my khaki brown pants only went down to my knees. If I was unlucky enough to brush past some poison ivy or hogweed my entire day would be ruined.'Reuniting children with their parents has higher priority than your comfort, focus Egon!'Since none of us was interested in wasting time we ignored any wild Pokémon and kept following Rena. Numsy was big and intimidating enough to keep us from having to deal with any riffraff looking to prove their mettle. We passed by a family of Mankey swinging from the treetops, which would normally be a very bad idea. The species of Pokémon being well known for their temper tantrums at the slightest provocation and if one does become enraged so do the rest of its colony. Luckily these ones seemed to be in a benign mood letting us pass without much fanfare.After passing a lone Tyrogue who was in the middle of a workout session Rena finally led us to the origin of the scent.'Man, I didn't know so many exotic fighting types lived on this mountain. The rangers are going to have a field day with these ones. It's a wasted effort really. These Pokémon have been living in Hoenn for long enough to have completely adapted to the environment. But since I am on a spree anyway… Arceus please let the next fighting type we come across be a monferno.'Contrary to my prayers the next group of Pokémon we saw were our intended targets. A pair of worried looking grumpig. Our temporary travel companion excitedly bounced up and down after finally seeing his parents again, hopping with crazy amounts of newfound energy."Spoink Spoink!""Piiig!""Aww look at that. Truly this is a heartwarming scene."Victini, unable to control herself, forcibly released herself from her poké ball to enjoy the moment with us. Spoink was in the middle of regaling his parents about his short adventure without their supervision. After the kid was done elucidating his parents on his acts of bravery the pair of grumpig addressed us to give our group their thanks."Gruuum?""They want to give us a gift for helping their child find his way back.""Well, refusing any gift would be rude. Ask them if they know of any super special berry spots inside the jagged pass. We still need to fill up our saddlebags after all.""Vi Vi?""Piig…"'What'd they say?'"Their family doesn't live on the mountainside, so they don't know. The father did offer us to have a look at his secret stash of valuables and pick one object."Victini didn't sound as enthused at the prospects of picking up a shiny marble or piece of quartz, but I didn't mind. At least it would make for a cool souvenir. After agreeing to the couple's proposal, the male grumpig lifted up an unassuming rock with his psychic powers. The hole underneath held some of the family's collection of shiny objects."Let's see here…"The most numerous items inside the secret stash were clamperl pearls of various sizes the family must have collected in case the little Spoink ever got a new brother or sister. Those pearls would net me a pretty penny if I picked one but since I didn't have any documentation that would prove to be a most foolhardy idea.'Seashells, shards of various colors, a small nugget of gold, a sapphire Wow they even have a moonstone tucked inside here. A marble the size of an adult fist with a strange helix pattern inside.'"Is that…?!"'Yep, that should be a mega stone, I wouldn't know for which Pokémon it is intended though.'After completing my survey of Grumpig's treasure hole the first thing I did was praise him for his expert shiny collecting skills."This is quite the collection Grumpig. For a good number of these items human collectors would go crazy over. Especially the differently colored shards you know, there is speculation that those shards are leftovers from an ancient civilization.""Piig!"'This is a difficult choice hmm. On the one hand if I pick the moonstone, I'll have no problems selling it to a shop in Mauville. The only place you can find buried moonstones in Hoenn is inside Meteor falls, so there's a pretty large markup for them. On the other hand mega stones should be even rarer although their worth hasn't been established yet. What do you think Tini?'"Do we need money?"'Well not right now, Mr. Moore is going to start providing extra funds to take care of Flannery. You are right… let's pick the mega stone at least this way we'll hold onto their gift instead of selling it immediately for some quick cash.'"Can we have that large green marble with the red and black swirly pattern inside?" After returning to Lavaridge* Spoink and his parents saw us off when we left the Jagged pass. I offered them an open invite if they ever wanted to try my grandmother's famed Lava cookies. The family could visit our store if they ever passed by the area again although my grandmother would be pretty miffed if the grumpig tried paying her in goods instead of pokédollars."Hopefully grandma can make do with only aspear, oran and figy berries. We could have stayed longer if we didn't get sidetracked.""Vuuul!""Yes, it's all thanks to you that we found that wayward couple. This achievement is going on your good deed list."We put the mega stone inside my own backpack right next to the one I bought at Mt. Pyre.'At this rate I might start a collection. Trainers all over the world are going to badger me for mega stones after the mega evolution phenomenon becomes public knowledge.'After making it to Grandma's store I dropped off my half-filled saddlebags on the counter and quickly sped off to the Lavaridge gym. We still had that gym battle scheduled for today and it'd be best not to leave the gym trainer who was picked to face me waiting."At this rate we won't make it. Tini, would you mind teleporting me to the gym?""Leave it to me!"Victini clamped onto my arm before using the move. Instantaneously I found myself standing on top of the gym's caldera battlefield. Luckily, Mr. Moore wasn't there to see us appear out of nowhere or else I would've gotten the scolding of a lifetime."Why here? We are scheduled to battle on the steam battlefield.""This is the place inside the gym where I spent most of my time.""Okay, I guess that does make it safer to teleport to this location. Let's meet up with today's receptionist to let them know we are present."The caldera's gate is almost always locked up for safety reasons, but it didn't take much effort on Victini's part to wiggle the lock open with a dash of telekinesis.'Make sure to lock up behind us after this. We don't want to get into trouble for sneaking around.'"What about the Pokémon living inside the magma?""They have their own tunnels that lead outside."After closing the gate behind us we walked at a brisk pace towards the reception desk. The staff member manning the hallway today was Keegan. That meant that my opponent would most likely be Eli."Hey Egon, are you ready for your gym battle? Our leader is busy helping Flannery pack up for her journey. So, it will be just you and Eli duking it out.""My team's all fired up! I have seen all of Eli's tricks. We got this in the bag.""I wouldn't be so sure if I was you. He might decide to swap in higher leveled Pokémon based on what you are deciding to field."After some more bantering while Keegan was putting me in the system, we left for the steam battlefields. Keegan would have come with us, but he was stuck behind that desk for another two hours. As we entered the giant room containing most of the gym's battlefield we spotted a familiar face."Heya Egon, I could take the day off.""Julie! It's good that you could see me win my first Hoenn gym badge.""You are all fired up. I like it! Hey, did that egg of yours hatch yet? I bet it did and that it's a cutie.""Furreeet!""Yes, she is, I won't be having her fight in gym battles for a while yet. Hey, how about she stays with you while watching the match?""I'd love to, but Eli asked me to referee the match since the gym's short on personnel. How about leaving the little cutie with Furret?"Not needing any further encouragement I released both Glove and Halo. Since glove made it a sticking point to always be allowed out his ball at the same time halo was."Woow! You weren't kidding about her cuteness. I don't recognize her species at all.""Halo here is a Larvesta, a bug and fire type Pokémon from Unova.""Vess!""Furrreeet!"After a quick meet and greet where Julie's Furret attempted to make nice with my Larvesta by casually introducing herself to both Glove and Halo. The three Pokémon climbed up the stands to have a good view. This was Halo's first time watching an official gym battle so it would be important for her to observe the proper procedures of sending out and recalling during league officiated matches.I took my designated place on the battlefield. Eli was already there waiting for me at the other side. Our local ranger that also doubled as a gym trainer was someone who liked to test visiting trainers' preparedness by surprising them with unknown variables."You ready for me, Egon?""Bring it!"